


Are You Flirting Or Starting A Fight?

by bucky77



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Abandonment, Anger, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fist Fights, Flirting, Hurt/Comfort, Team TARDIS, argument
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2020-01-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21897424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bucky77/pseuds/bucky77
Summary: Prompt: "Are You Flirting Or Starting A Fight?"
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

The Doctor was roughly fiddling with the knobs on the TARDIS console as he sent them barrelling into the time vortex. Rose and Jack were holding firm to the railings, legs weak and struggling to catch their breath after running for their lives across half the city. Again. The Doctor turned and glared at Jack, who quickly lost his breath again. He'd seen that look directed at Daleks and Cybermen, never at him. The Oncoming Storm. Even Rose fell silent, watching intently.

"Jack, I put up with your bullshit all the time. And that's fine, I'm happy to do that. What I won't put up with is you putting all of us in danger because you can't keep your fucking mouth shut!" The Doctor yelled.

"I'm sorry, I had no idea he'd react that way," Jack tried to explain.

"No, you don't get to feign innocence anymore. This is the forth time in two weeks this has happened!" 

"Okay, I'll stop, no more flirting with the locals," Jack finally conceded after sensing how furious the Doctor really was with him. The Doctor turned back to the console and flipped some more switches, trying to look busy, before giving up and leaning his hands on the cool metal, letting the comforting hum of the TARDIS run through him while taking a deep breath. Jack and Rose exchanged a nervous glance before Jack decided to try and apologise again.

"Doc, I'm really-" he began before the Doctor whipped around and stood up straight, staring him square in the eye.

"Do not... talk to me," his voice was calm and unwavering, which sent a shiver down the spines of his companions. Jack and the Doctor looked each other in the eyes, the Doctor silently daring Jack to talk. Jack decided he'd had enough of this. He understood he'd put them in danger but they were safe, and he really couldn't be blamed for the Doctor not giving him all the information. How was he supposed to know?

"Are you flirting or starting a fight?" he asked, deliberately trying to rile the Doctor up. It worked. His eyes darkened as they stared at each other for another tense moment. Rose watched the interaction, too stunned at Jack's words to tell him to back down. Suddenly, the Doctor took a swing at Jack, narrowly missing as he stepped backwards, nearly falling backwards on the TARDIS floor. 

"Doctor!" Rose yelled, shocked.

Jack barely managed to give the Doctor a sarcastic smile before he moved to hit him again. This time, Jack caught his fist in his hand and swung it behind his back, using his body to pin him roughly to the console. Jack let out a hearty laugh at the fact he'd managed to annoy the Doctor this much, before the Doctor swung his head back, hitting him in the nose.

"Fuck!" Jack stumbled backwards, letting the Doctor go and holding his face gingerly. 

"Okay, cut it out," Rose said, trying to sound firm instead of afraid. The Doctor and Jack didn't pay her any attention as they stood, several feet apart in fighting stances. This time, it was Jack who launched at the Doctor, frustrated when he easily ducked underneath his arm and kicked him in the calf, causing him to fall into the console. He was back on his feet in an instant, breathless. The sight of the Doctor, calm and unfazed, infuriated him.

He lunged forward again, managing to catch the Doctor off guard as they tumbled to the floor. He heard a pained grunt as the sound of the Doctor's head hitting the floor rang through the room. Before he could move again, the Doctor swung his legs over Jack's hip, catching him by surprise, and managed to throw his weight off him. Somehow, he managed to flip Jack's body over, and in one fluid and surprisingly effortless movement had him pinned, arms behind his back and cheek pressed to the uncomfortable metal grating beneath him. Jack struggled but the Doctor held him there until he calmed down. Just when the feeling of the Doctor's knee pressing into the bottom of his spine was starting to hurt, he felt himself being lifted off the ground. He was flung around and his back hit the TARDIS doors with a bang that made Rose flinch in the corner. The Doctor held Jack's shirt in his fist, and stared aggressively into his eyes. He wasn't done with him yet.

"Rose, get out of here," he said, not bothering to look around. Jack felt his breathing hitch and he had no doubt the man standing in front of him had noticed it too.

"No, I'm not gonna let you hurt him," she argued decisively.

"I won't touch him," he said in a low voice. Rose wasn't sure whether she believed him and hesitated, before remembering that no matter how angry he was at Jack, he'd never actually do anything to harm him. Jack watched her turn and walk away out of the corner of his eye, not daring to take his eyes off the face in front of him. 

The Doctor waited until he heard her footsteps disappear down the hall before opening the door of the TARDIS Jack wasn't pressed up against and shoving him out. Jack wasn't sure where they had landed, he wasn't even sure when they had landed, but his heels snagged on the uneven ground and he stumbled, moving even further from the TARDIS. Jack stood and watched the Doctor, terrified. A feeling of dread settled low in his stomach and he felt like he could throw up. The Doctor just stood in the doorway of the ship, watching him emotionlessly.

"No," Jack mumbled, voice cracking as he realised what was happening. There was no emotion on the Doctor's face anymore; not anger, not sadness, not remorse. He stepped back, took one last look at Jack and shut the door.

Jack's feet felt bolted to the ground as he watched the TARDIS dematerialise. His heart sank lower in his chest than he thought possible and the weight of it shoved him to his knees. He looked around. He was nowhere. All he could see for miles was an endless rocky desert. He looked back to where the TARDIS had been, hoping it was all an illusion, a bad dream. The minutes passed and it finally began to sink in: the Doctor had left him. He was really gone.

~~~

The Doctor sent the TARDIS back into the time vortex and leant his hands on the console, dropping his head. He stayed there for quite some time, not even looking up when he heard Rose re-enter the console room.

"Where's Jack?" she asked.

"I dunno, some asteroid," he said to the floor. Despite the fact he couldn't see Rose, the shocked silence gave him a pretty clear picture of her disapproval.

"You can't just leave him!" she yelled.

"I'm not leaving him," the Doctor finally looked back up at her, "I'm just giving him a bit of a scare. Teaching him a lesson. We'll be gone an hour," he explained. Rose shook her head.

"No, you cannot put him through that," she argued. The Doctor wasn't surprised, she never thought twice about telling him off when he did something she didn't agree with. "Go back now." This wasn't a question, or a request. She was ordering him to return to Jack straight after he'd left him on that barren rock, and she wouldn't back down until he did. The Doctor wasn't in the mood for another fight, so he sent them back half-heartedly. Rose stormed towards the door, barely waiting until they'd re-materialised. 

"How long have we been gone?" she asked, anger seeping into her words.

"Ten minutes," he replied. She flung the doors open and ran out to Jack who was still sitting on his knees where they'd left him. He was looking up at Rose in disbelief, more relieved than he'd even been before. His eyes were red and he looked out of breath, terrified like Rose had never seen him. She ran over to him as fast as she could and fell without hesitation to her knees in front of him. She wrapped her arms around him, trying her best to provide some sort of comfort. Jack could barely move, not even to hug her back. He was in genuine shock, not quite believing they had actually come back for him. But there they were, Rose's warm arms wrapped around his shoulders and the little blue box humming with the familiar sound of the time vortex barely ten meters away.

Finally, he allowed himself to register that yes, this was real, they were actually here. He let his head drop onto Rose's shoulder and let out another sob, not caring in that moment how pathetic he must look to her. Rose just held him tighter as her heart shattered into a thousand pieces. She couldn't imagine how he must have been feeling. It was her worst nightmare, being left behind by the Doctor, and she was sure it was his too. 

After what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, Rose helped Jack to his feet and grabbed a hold of his hand. She dragged him quickly back into the TARDIS, slamming the doors behind him, before ushering him straight past the Doctor and down the hall. Jack gave the Doctor a long look, trying to find the words to apologise, but he didn't raise his head to return his gaze. When Jack and Rose had disappeared from sight, the Doctor sent them back into the time vortex before landing back on 21st century Earth. That way, at least if either of them wanted to leave in the night they could.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose dragged Jack straight into the library and sat him down on the couch, keeping her arm wrapped securely around his shoulder. He hadn’t said a word since they’d picked him up and she didn’t expect him to get over it for a long time yet. She didn’t bother trying to talk to him, just let him lean against her as his shaky breaths wracked through him. It took him ten minutes to stop shaking.

“I would have never let him leave you,” she whispered to him. He didn’t respond, so she leant away from him and looked him straight in the eye. He looked back, but still didn’t give her any indication as to what he was thinking.

“I’m so sorry,” she said, pulling him into another hug. 

“There’s nothing to be sorry about,” he told her in a voice barely above a whisper.

“I left you,” she pulled back and looked him in the eyes again. “I didn’t think he’d hurt you.”

“He didn’t,” Jack said, but Rose shook her head.

“Yes he did.”

They sat in silence for a while, letting that sink in. The Doctor, their Doctor, had threatened to leave Jack marooned on an asteroid with no way off, and it had nearly broken him. Rose was holding Jack’s hands, facing him on the couch, and he was looking blankly down at their entwined hands. She saw movement over his shoulder, and looked up to see the Doctor hovering in the doorway.

She looked him sternly in the eye and shook her head at him, warning him not to take another step. He cocked his head, pleading, but Rose didn’t break. She glared at him until he took a few silent steps back and disappeared from view. 

“How’re you feeling?” She asked.

“I don’t know,” he replied. 

“I’m gonna go talk to him,” she told Jack. “We won’t go anywhere for a few days.”

“You can’t make him do that,” Jack replied, but Rose just shook her head.

“It’s his own fault.”

Rose stood and left the room, walking back towards the console room.

~~~

“I hope you’re proud of yourself,” Rose quipped when she walked into the console room, coming face to face with the Doctor. He visibly recoiled from her anger.

“You know I—“ he began, but Rose had no intention of letting him speak.

“You have no idea what it’s like travelling with you! You pick us up and you show us the universe. Life gets so much bigger. This TARDIS becomes the only place you would ever want to call home and you become a god to us. I know you hate us thinking like that but we can’t help it. All we want to do is impress you, because you only take the best and we’re scared if we slip up once you’ll leave us behind.”

“I know—“ he tried again.

“No, Doctor, you don’t know. If you did you never would have done that—“

“I know, Rose!” He yelled, slamming a fist down on the console, causing the TARDIS to hum disapprovingly. “What, you think I just decided to throw him out on some random asteroid for no reason?” 

Rose was shocked.

“You were trying to do this?” Her voice was little more than a whisper. The Doctor looked down, ashamed. 

“I was trying—“

“You don’t get to make excuses. Not for this. You’ve terrified him,” she told him, the harsh edge on her voice not slipping for a moment. “That’s Jack in there, Doctor. He’s our friend.”

Neither of them spoke for a long time.

“Neither of us are going anywhere for a few days, he needs a break,” she told him, not giving him a chance to argue as she turned and stormed out of the room.

~~~

When Rose had made her way back into the library, Jack was asleep on the couch. She had taken a seat on the opposite side and picked up a book. She was a few chapters in when Jack’s leg started twitching and he began mumbling incoherently in his sleep.

Rose watched him sadly as his breathing picked up and he began shaking.

“Jack?” She tried to wake him up, crossing the room and putting a hand on his shoulder. She called his name again, shaking him. He bolted upright, eyes darting around the dim room before resting on Rose. 

“Rose?” He whispered, panting. She nodded, but it seemed to do little to reassure him. His breathing didn’t slow down, it picked up, and before Rose could figure out what was happening he was panting for breath and trying desperately to undo the top button on his shirt. He let out a strained sob as a tear rolled down his face.

“Breathe Jack, calm down,” Rose told him in her most calming voice. He kept hyperventilating, and tears began to stream freely down his face. Rose grabbed onto his hand, which was shaking more than she would have thought humanly possible, and squeezed it. She started trying to slow his breathing, but was unsure if he could even hear her over the sound of his sobbing. His face was starting to turn red, and he was devolving into a terrified mess.

“Doctor!” She yelled, hoping they were currently close enough to the console room for him to hear. In seconds, he was running into the room, and cursed under his breath when he saw Jack. He crossed the room and Rose got out of his way as he took her place crouching in front of him. He took a hold of his hands and forced Jack to look him in the eyes.

“You’re okay Jack, nothing’s wrong. I know it feels awful but as soon as you calm down it’ll go away. I promise,” he said. “In, out, in…” he began coaching Jack to copy the speed of his own breathing. Slowly but surely, Jack’s breathing returned to normal. It was shaky and hoarse, but Rose was no longer scared he was going to pass out.

She hesitantly scooted over to him and wrapped her arms around him, not surprised when he hugged her back, dropping his head into the crook of her neck and sobbing. Rose could see the Doctor fall back into the couch, sitting on the ground with a look of disbelief on his face. He knew that this was his fault.


	3. Chapter 3

It had been nearly 24 hours since Jack’s nightmare, and Rose had only just gone to bed. She hadn’t left his side on the couch all day, but when she started falling asleep sitting up he forced her to go.

The only sound in the room was the familiar hum of the TARDIS, which made it obvious when footsteps walked in behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see the Doctor coming towards him. He immediately averted his eyes, looking at the floor. He was still humiliated about his panic attack the day before, and had been avoiding the Doctor ever since.

The Doctor walked over to the couches and sat down, keeping as much distance between them as he could.

“I am so sorry,” he said, shocking Jack. He had never heard anyone sound so genuine in his life, and it threw him. 

“No, I overreacted,” Jack tried to explain, keeping his eyes downcast.

“None of this is your fault,” the Doctor immediately replied in the tone of someone who needs someone else to listen. “I crossed a line without even thinking. I was angry and I lashed out. It was completely unfair.”

“No, I put us in danger again—“ Jack started but the Doctor cut him off.

“Do not blame yourself for this. Please,” the Doctor pleaded, and Jack finally looked up at him. He looked incredibly anxious, and his knee was bobbing up and down at a million miles a minute. His eyes were boring holes in Jack’s heart, and Jack had to look away. He still couldn’t think of what to say, but he felt pathetic. He’d broken down to the point where the Doctor was trying to make him feel better. He’d never expected this.

“I don’t need you to try make me feel better, Doctor, it’s not going to work,” he said.

“You didn’t do anything, Jack, I don’t care if you flirt with—“ he began, but stopped when Jack started shaking his head.

“You know that’s not what I mean.” He looked up when the silence stretched on for longer than he expected and saw the Doctor looking at him with his head cocked slightly and his eyebrows furrowed. “Don’t play dumb with me, I’m not an idiot.” His voice was angry, but not as angry as he felt.

“I don’t know what you mean,” the Doctor replied.

“I know this is ridiculous, and that I’m overreacting, but I just got scared and I had just woken up, and—“ he rattled. While he was talking he saw the Doctor’s entire demeanour soften. He looked sadder than he’d ever seen him. “What?”

“Jack, I’m in the wrong here,” he told him. 

“No, I shouldn’t be taking this as hard as I am. I should have just gotten over it, you couldn’t have known I’d react this way,” Jack argued back.

“I did know you’d react this way,” the Doctor said. Jack waited for an explanation. “I didn’t just chuck you out for no reason, I knew leaving you behind was the worst thing I could possibly do to you. I knew just the idea of being left behind would totally break you… and I did it anyway.”

Jack watched his face while he spoke, waiting for any indication he was lying. It didn’t come. 

“So if there’s anything I can do for you, anything, I will. Without hesitation.”

Jack watched the Doctor in silent shock. He hadn’t once entertained the notion that he wasn’t just overreacting, and after 24 hours he was finding the thought a little hard to shake. The TARDIS was his home, the only home he’d had in years, and the Doctor was right. The thought of being left alone without warning caused a panic to bubble somewhere deep in his chest. He didn’t know if he could live with that possibility.

“Drop me off,” he whispered. There was a silence, and for a while he was unsure if the Doctor had heard him. Looking up, he realised he had.

“What do you mean?” He asked.

“21st century Earth, somewhere in England,” he said, trying mostly successfully to keep the tremor out of his voice. 

“Jack…” the Doctor trailed off, genuinely lost for words. Jack didn’t dare look up again, for fear of loosing his resolve. He’d made up his mind; he knew he couldn’t handle the stress of this anymore. 

“You said anything,” he said, using the Doctor’s own words against him. There was another pause, in which the Doctor clearly realised he couldn’t get out of this.

“How long?” He asked quietly.

“What do you mean?”

“How long do you want me to leave you there?” 

“Forever. I’m done.” Jack looked the Doctor in the eyes, and felt horrible at the knowledge he caused the look in them. Just then, they heard footsteps approach them. 

“Why are you two looking so sour?” Rose asked, taking a seat near Jack. Jack looked at the ground, and the Doctor’s wide eyes stayed fixed on him. “What?” Rose asked again, worry seeping into her tone. When he realised the Doctor wasn’t answering, Jack spoke up.

“I thought you’d gone to bed,” Jack said.

“Couldn’t sleep. What’s happening?” There was a strained pause.

“I’m leaving,” he said.

“No you’re not,” she said, as though it was some practical joke. No one laughed. “Doctor—“ she began before Jack cut her off.

“It’s not him,” he assured her. “It’s me, I’m not cut out for this.”

“This?” Rose asked. She was starting to get angry.

“Yes, this. I am not like this, I don’t totally break down because someone hurts my feelings!” 

“You’re leaving us because you’re embarrassed?” She checked, incredulously. Jack didn’t say anything. “That’s such bullshit! The Doctor knows full well he crossed a line, and I am pissed off at him for that. He didn’t just hurt your feelings, he deliberately threw you into the middle of your worst nightmare. And I would react exactly the same way. Exactly. Don’t you dare say that reacting like that is embarrassing!”

“I’m too attached—“ he began.

“Of course you’re attached!” Rose was yelling at him now. “This is your home!”

Jack could feel tears welling up in his eyes and knew he had to leave. He couldn’t let them see him break down anymore than they had; it was already pathetic. Going to stand up, he felt Rose grab is shoulder and yank him back down, with no consideration of being gentle.

“Rose let me go,” his voice trembled.

“No,” her voice sounded nearly as miserable as his. He looked up to see tears fall down her cheeks. “No, I’m not letting you leave.”

Jack took a few deep breaths and bit his bottom lip to stop it from trembling. He glanced over at the Doctor who was looking down at his hands. He looked miserable. 

“Doctor, out,” Rose said, not bothering to hide her irritation with him. Neither man argued as he stood and left, undoubtedly returning to the console room. Rose grabbed Jack’s shoulders and forced him to look at her, shaking him a little as she spoke.

“You are not leaving this TARDIS because of his mistake. It isn’t what’s best for anyone, in fact it’ll just make everyone miserable. You’re family, get used to it.”

Jack gritted his teeth against the flow of tears he could feel building up behind his eyes, but it did no good. He looked down as they fell down his cheeks, but Rose shook him again so he looked back at her.

“Tell me you’re not leaving,” she said.

“I’m not leaving.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first physical fight scene I've ever written, so comments and constructive criticism would mean the world to me. I might end up writing a second part to this, so if you'd like that let me know. 
> 
> I don't own any of these characters!


End file.
